Tom Bromilow

Tom Bromilow

Personal information
Full name	Thomas George Bromilow
Date of birth	(1894-10-07)7 October 1894
Place of birth	Liverpool, England
Date of death	4 March 1959(1959-03-04) (aged 64)
Place of death	Nuneaton, England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) [1]
Position(s)	Left half
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1919–30	Liverpool	341	(11)
International career
1921–25	England	5	(0)
Managerial career
1930–32	AFC (Amsterdam) [2]
1932–35	Burnley
1935–36	Crystal Palace
1936–37	Newport County
1937–39	Crystal Palace
1939–45	Leicester City
1946–50	Newport County
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Thomas George Bromilow (7 October 1894 – 4 March 1959) was an English international left half footballer who played for Liverpool between 1919 and 1930. He was virtually ever-present during the back-to-back League title triumphs of the early 1920s.

Life and playing career

Born in West Derby, Liverpool, England, Bromilow was signed by Liverpool after the 24-year-old turned up at Anfield one afternoon in 1919 asking for a trial. He had only recently been demobilised from the army. George Patterson, the then Liverpool assistant manager, agreed to give him a trial and was impressed by his skill and Bromilow was signed.

Bromilow made his debut on 25 October 1919 at Turf Moor in a Division One match against Burnley, a game that the Reds won 2–1; his first goal came in the 57th minute of a 3–0 league victory at Burnden Park over Bolton Wanderers on 24 January 1920. Bromilow soon became an established member of the side that was to win back-to-back League titles in 1921–22 and 1922–23. A fine tackler and distributor of the ball, Bromilow was regarded as the brains of the team and blossomed into a full England international within three years of turning professional. He continued to be an influential first team regular until the latter part of the decade, serving the club with distinction and leading by example as team captain.

He was capped for England on five occasions between 1921 and 1925. ^[1]

After retiring from playing, Bromilow took up a career in coaching and went to coach in Amsterdam during the summer of 1930. ^[3] In October 1932 he was appointed Burnley manager, the first manager of the club to have been a former professional player, and he remained there until summer 1935. ^[4] He later went on to manage Crystal Palace (two spells), Newport County (two spells) and Leicester City. ^[3]

In 2006, he was included in the 100 Players That Shook The Kop poll, as voted by fans on the Liverpool FC official site. ^[5]

Personal life

Tom was married to Lillian Mabel May Kelly. ^{[1] [6]}

He died suddenly on a train in March 1959 while scouting for Leicester City. ^[3]

Honours

As a player

Liverpool

• Football League First Division winners: 1922, 1923
• Charity Shield runners-up: 1923

As a manager

Crystal Palace

• Football League Third Division South (Level 3) runners-up: 1939

References

1. "Tom Bromilow". England Football Online. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
2. "Hoofd trainer AFC" (in Dutch). afc.courant.nu. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
3. "Player profile:Tom Bromilow". LFC History. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
4. "Clarets Mad Feature" Archived 20 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine .
5. "100 PWSTK - The definitive list". Liverpool FC. 8 October 2006. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
6. "The Men Who Made Liverpool: Tom Bromilow, the superstar half-back they called an "artiste to the fingertips"". thisisanfield.com. 10 May 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2021.